Elemental Dragons: New Beginnings
by Shinimegami-Illumini
Summary: When mysterious Linker Monsters start appearing, what is their connection to a random group of teenagers? And when stories of old are reborn new, where does the fate of twin cities, and world, rest? AU OC WIP R&R/C&C.
1. Ch 0 Prelude

**To Start with...**

Be forewarned: This is an AU fic. If you've come here to see the great adventures of Nanoha and co to start with, please turn around. This is a fanfic I started when I first fell in love with Nanoha by combining a story I wrote in High School with the Nanoha Universe. I apologize in advance if it's nothing like what you might be expecting. While I do welcome critiques, please refrain from pointing out the lack of the Nanoha cast :)

**Introductions**

The story Elemental Dragons takes place roughly in the same time (2008), but has technology that far out-eclipses the technology we have in the real life.

The main focus is the City of Summerside, located on Prince Edward Island. Since the world is so advanced, people started looking for the cleaner places to live, since most places started to get taken over by smog and such. PEI is one of these places. Unfortunately, with this sudden rush to populate the few places they weren't over-crowded and smoggy already, came the distinct differences of classes in Summerside. To the north of the city, a walled in, newer and "Wealthier" part of the city was built, classically dubbed as Neo Summerside. Most of the people moving to PEI were the richer class, and rightfully claimed Neo Sside as theirs, making it nearly impossible for anyone not of proper background or wealth to enter.

Not as if this was a bad thing, as Neo Summerside looked like a city out of a fairy tale, with a pristine lake, water fountains, grand parks and modern buildings. It's sort of like a second city, all on it's own.

But as mentioned, there is great tension between Summerside and Neo Summerside. The 2 classes of people don't mingle together well at all, as most of Summerside considers these people either trespassers, or stuck up celebrities.

Also, with the recent crunch to find clean land, the Earth has gained new satellites traveling around it. Space Colonies. 2 and a partially destroyed one that is in the process of being rebuilt. They aren't nothing to marvel over, just simple designs that can sustain life and gravity. SC-XX001-EPSILON, SC-XX002-GAMMA, SC-XX003-DEP, the three colonies that float in the heavens, with Epsilon being the partly damaged one when a stray satellite crashed into it, creating a hole in the outer half of it and ripping a chunk out of the rotation ring.

Either way, that's not the only worries people have to live with. With the recent discovery of Nanoha Takamachi, the talented young Japanese girl who shocked the world when she introduced that some people are capable of using magic, people now have to worry about the consequences of this. With this new thing coming to light, not all people who are stepping out of the shadows are "Good" magic users. And because of this, a good portion of the "Good" ones are alienated from society, as people are scared of them. Most people now just tend to keep it a secret that they have even the smallest amount of magic power in them. And the ones that don't usually end up joining a police force or the TSAB to keep track of the bad mages. Nanoha is no longer on earth but instead is taking up residence on Mid-Childa where she works. Having magic isn't uncommon on the planet, so most of the more prominent mages tend to move to Mid-Childa to join the TSAB or a branch of it. The odd TSAB ship travels between Earth and Mid-Childa, but no other planets.

**Chapter 0 ~ Preludes**

"Freeze..."

"_«...Lance!»_"

A girl burst from the edge of the trees into the moonlight as several ice spears shot behind her into the darkness. Her long light blue hair whipped behind her as she spun mid air, landing on the soft grass. She braced herself, waiting on a response from within the woods. The scarf around her neck rippled lightly in the wind.

"_«Target Hit.»_" a young sounding female voice chimed.

"Should be almost dead."

"_«Yes, my lady.»_"

An otherworldly scream wailed from inside the trees, growing closer to the waiting girl. She grinned slightly as the creature came into view. It lunged at her, jaws dripping as it snarled.

"_«Mist Step.»_"

The girl disappeared suddenly, causing the creature to hit the ground instead.

"Frost Bite..." the girls voice called out from behind the creature.

4 pillars of ice shot from the ground, impaling the creature. It cried out, turning it's head to face the girl.

"...BREAK!" the pillars exploded in a rain of ice shards, vaporizing the creature. A light blue gem landed on the ground, rolling softly. The girl walked over to it and picked it up, staring at it.

"Still not it. Here." she held the gem up to the shinobi-gatana she was holding.

"_«Gem Received. Collection Complete. Good night, my lady Myst~!»_" the weapon chimed and disappeared, and instead was replaced by a necklace adorned with a kunai charm.

"Thank you, Tsumetai." the girl looked up at the sound of sirens wailing. "They're slow."

"Over this way!" "Where is it?" "Did they get to it again before us?" "Men, spread out and check the area for clues!"

The girl chuckled a bit from inside the trees and turned around, leaving the confused troops to themselves.


	2. Ch 1 Beginnings

**Chapter 1 ~ Beginnings**

The halls of Three Oaks Senior High School buzzed with noise as students shuffled about on their lunch breaks. Cafeteria slowly emptying, most of the students had gone outside for lunch to enjoy the wonderful rain-free spring the island had been receiving so far. Inside, down the sky-lit 3-tier hallway, sunlight filtered in, casting shadows in the hallway as it hit the kites and banners hanging from the ceiling. 2 girls giggled as they walked down the hallway, backpacks slung on their backs. It seemed like an odd match at first glance. On the left was a thin built brunette with shoulder length brown hair, pulled back in a ponytail. Her caramel highlights danced in the sunlight as she tucked the long strands of her bangs behind her ears again. Bright, brown eyes glanced up to the skylight in the ceiling, then falling to the girl next to her, making her grin. Her grin was returned by the yellow eyed female next to her. She was stockier then the brunette, with well toned muscles on her arms and legs. Her short black and blonde hair complimented her figure, even if it was an unusual hair style. She stood a few inches taller then her companion. Both girls wore the standard sailor fuku for TOSH: White, short-sleeved blouse with deep-green pleated skirt, deep-green sailor collar with golden yellow neckerchief, and various golden yellow accents. The brunette looked at her friend, grinning. The girl grinned back as the brunette broke the silence.

"Maaaan~ Suki-chan. What do you mean you're busy now after school? We were suppose to go shopping. How can you just ditch me like that..."

"The coach called a sudden practice. We're going up against Charlottetown in the next week, so he wants better then our A-Game this time." Suki turned slightly, facing her friend again with a grin "And again with the Suki-chan?" she giggled.

"You say that, I respond with nicknames. 10 years and it's still 'Again with...'" Denise sniffled. "You'll always be my Suki-chan~ Blame yourself for teaching me these things, hehe." she stopped a second, catching herself. "But! That's not here nor there. Tell your coach to get bent then, I had you first, hehe." Denise sighed and looked at her friend. "Still..."

"Heh, never short of hostilities, are you? I also blame your un-healthy addiction to anime. What's worse, your Pepsi-fetish or anime fetish, I don't know... don't want to know." Suki put an arm around Denise's shoulder "You can come watch us if you like, I'm sure the boys might be there too. Probably doing laps around the gym or something. They also have a match next week, but our coach won the coin toss on the gym floor rights."

"...The boys basketball team?" Denise looked at Suki, then stared up in the ceiling, lost in thought. "Ooooh, but I still needed to go shopping for new cloths for spring."

"Sorry Denise... maybe another time?" she gave her friend an apologetic smile "If you go today anyways, schedule a hair appointment. Your highlights are starting to disappear." she smiled "Anyways, I gotta head to class. See you tomorrow then. Later." Suki ran forward, waving behind her.

"Bye~" Denise waved back and twirled around, heading back the way she came from, since her class was on the other side of the school and lunch break was about to end. She rushed into the Art Room as the bell rang and took a seat, flashing a quick smile at the girl sitting across from her at the table.

"Fashionably late as usual."

"If I was on time the world would end, you know that Becki." Denise sat across from her friend, rifling through her backpack for her sketch supplies. Her friend Becki was drumming her pencil lightly on the table, flipping through the sketches from yesterday. She had long, wavy red hair that hung down her back and bright blue eyes. It was pulled up into half a ponytail and then clipped to the back of her head. Unlike Denise, she was a bit bigger then her, but Denise was rather slim for her height. She chuckled as Denise smacked her head on the underside of the table, dropping her sketch pad and pencils.

"Oh d'uh, how could I forget that." Becki laughed. "I didn't see you at lunch today. Outside again?"

"Ya, talking with Suki about soccer season sign-ups. Sorry. Oh! Hey, you wanna go to the mall after school? Suki got road-blocked by her coach with surprise practice, and I don't want to..."

"It's nice to see that your after-school shopping trip is more important then my class, Denise." Mrs. Evans said dryly from the front of the class. "Am I disturbing you on your plan making?" The class snickered.

"No Mrs. Evans. Sorry."

"Well, that's good to know. Now please, get out your sketch books. Your assignment is on the board. Passed in by the end of the class."

Denise checked the board then stared at the table in the center of the room, full of different objects to sketch.

"Meet outside the door after school." Becki whispered.

"Okies~."

"Girls."

"Sorry!"

"Gomen~" Denise giggled then went back to sketching.

The bell rang an hour later, signaling the last break for the day, and the final class. Denise waved to Becki who wandered off to her cooking class, as Denise walked across the hallway into the Computer Lab.

"Hey, Denise." a boy waved her over to sit next to him. He had dark brown hair with bangs that hung over his light brown eyes. He wore a set of glasses that always seemed to need endless adjusting, but didn't block the warmth of his eyes. At first glance he didn't seem very big, but he was rather toned under his uniform. He was half a foot taller then Denise, his image almost right out of the shoujo-mangas that Denise worshipped like the bible. And it was easy to tell he was popular as every girl in class would occasionally stare at him, then giggle and whisper to their friends.

"Hey Kent." Denise sat next to him and stretched in her chair. "Working on the website again?"

"Ya, just working on the history part of it now. Want to help?"

"Sure. I think it's just a simple exercise today for class, so we should have lots of time." She smiled at Kent. "No contacts today?"

"Uh... no... um..." Kent adjusted his glasses. "I don't ..."

"It's ok. I still think you'd look better with them though." Denise smiled again, then turned to start opening the website up to code some pages.

"Uh... um..." Kent blushed. "Thanks..." he whispered.

"Hrm?"

"N-n-nothing..." he stammered. "Uh, did you want to work on the biography parts? The coding on those pages could use some touch ups."

"Sure. Oh, hey Brent!" Denise turned to the new guy who sat next to her. Brent was heavier set then both Denise and Kent, and a hair shorter then Kent. He had very short brown hair and blue eyes. "Gomen I wasn't at lunch today."

"Huh? Uh, nevermind. No problem. Figured you were outside. Yo Kent."

"Hey."

"Anyways, I'll work on this for a bit. Brent, want to tackle the main page and spruce it up a bit?" Denise glanced at Brent, then back at the computer screen.

"Sure. We should be done of this by the end of the week."

"Ya. Pretty easy when I'm with ya. Everything gets done fast!"

Brent broke out laughing as Kent readjusted his glasses.

"Says Mrs. Late-Assignment. You, get stuff done on time, HA!"

"...Mou~! I pass assignments in on time too you know... just... ones... I like. Which... isn't too many... only..." Denise trailed off as Brent continued to laugh.

"Uh... back to working on the website?" Kent asked, looking at Denise who was still going on about assignments.

"Huh? Oh, ya. Sorry!"

The 3 friends chatted away, working on their website about the hotels, motels and inns in the city to stay in. The class was to work on different parts of the city: Dining Areas, Recreation, Accommodations, and things like that. They laughed and joked as Brent continually picked on Denise, while Kent just continued to either blush or fix his glasses.

"Well, gotta go. Becki's waiting for me at the doors. Going shopping for clothing."

"For clothes? For you to wear ...where? Not like you go out much, hermit." Brent retorted as they left the class.

"What? Jerk. I go out..."

"Ya, like to my place, Becki's or Suki's. That's really getting out."

"Quiet you. Don't make me stab you with a ruler."

"I'm not scared."

"Uh..." Kent looked back and forth. "See... you guys tomorrow."

"Bye bye Kent. See ya Brent, even though you're still a jerk." Denise took off down the hallway, dodging kids as she went for her locked, muttering about it being across the school from both of her last period classes. Several minutes later, she exited the main doors to the school into the sunlight. She looked around, and spotted Becki down the way, by the parking lot. She was standing next to a red car.

"Becki~!" Denise called as she ran towards her.

"Oh, Denise." Becki looked at the ground.

"Hrm, what's up?"

"I have to cancel. Mom's heading up west and I'm getting dragged with her." Becki sighed.

"Oh. Well..." Denise looked at the ground, then at Becki smiling. "That's ok, I can always just go by myself and ask my friends at work. No worries. We can go another day. I'll just browse or something, haha.

"

"I'm really sorry." Becki got into the car. "See you tomorrow in English."

"Mhm, see ya." Denise waved as the car rolled away. "... well, what to do now."


	3. Ch 2 Envelope

**Chapter 2 ~ Envelope**

The County Fair Mall was rather dead for a Tuesday, but the odd group of school kids passed through the long halls of the mall, going in and out of the many shops. Denise sighed as she stretched out on a bench in the open plaza area of the mall. She had been in a few of the clothing stores, but couldn't

decide on anything. She sat across from "Eclipse" and stared at a group of girls looking at the latest style of shirts, then shifted her attention to one of the many LCD screens that lined the top of the walls.

"Oh, it's about the recent monster attack I seen in the paper." Denise thought to herself as video footage of a small patch of trees scrolled across the screen. There were several craters in the ground, and broken trees in the background. She watched as the reporter spoke about the lack of casualties or any damage done to property. Then a rough shot of a girl running away in the pitch black was shown. The reporter chatted on about this "Mysterious Girl" eluding police & TSAB. They showed a few more shots before going back to the scene of the attack.

Denise sighed. There had been a lot of monster activity around the island in the last year. But it's been picking up more and more within the recent months. The TSAB had sent mages to deal with it, but this

mysterious girl has been taking care of most of the monsters around the Neo Summerside and Summerside areas.

"I wonder if she lives around her or something..." she raised the back of her hand to her head and stared straight up to the sky-lights in the ceiling, watching the sun dance through the glass. "So bored. Maybe I'll just pick up some T-shirts and cargos or something. Least I can pick those out myself. Eh...?"

A girl across the plaza court was staring at Denise. She was leaning against the wall next to the Bijou store, arms crossed. She had waist length aqua hair, and Denise could tell she was a bit taller then her. He complexion was also pretty fair colored. But, the thing that stuck Denise as odd was her outfit.

"...hmmm... Tenjoukai...Gakuen? No way, Tenjoukai Private Acedemy?" she blinked, pondering. "What is a rich prep from _that_ place doing here?" blinking again, she looked to her left and her right, seeing nobody else around her. "And she's ...staring at me. This is sorta creepy."

The girl continued to watch Denise, then pushed herself off the wall, walking away up the mall. Denise just stared as the girl walked by the bench she was sitting on.

"That was weird. Was she actually staring at me? I wonder what she wanted." Denise flipped out her cellphone glancing at the time. "Eh? It's already been 2 hours? I should hurry up and get going, this is getting me nowhere. Hrm..." she looked up the mall "After I stop at Zellers. I wonder who's working Electronics." She got up and walked up the mall in the direction of Zellers. She was unawarethe girl had turned around and was walking back down the mall, slowly trailing Denise.

* * *

"I could stand here all day and watch this video."

"I know, you do anyway, when you're working."

"Oooh, hush you! I still do work."

"Sure you do."

"...I'm going to hurt you, you jerk. GAH!" Denise stomped away from the Electronics counter and towards the TVs on the back wall.

"Hey Denise."

"Hrm?" Denise spun around to stare at the guy again at the counter, "What's up Mitch?"

"Did I tell you you smell funny today?"

"..." Denise's eye twitched slightly. She reached to her left and grabbed a soft digital camera bag, hurling it up the aisle at the guy behind the counter. "I swear to god don't make me strangle you with speaker wire."

"I know you won't. This things your precious baby, heh." Mitch patted the subwoofer on the counter. "You wouldn't harm it."

"...gah... Damnit. MITCH! You jerk." she spun around as Mitch broke out laughing. "I... I will... hurt you... someday... bleh." she walked up to the TV's. "After I watch this... so... cool."

The TVs on the back wall all played the same image. Denise stood there, humming along as the girl on the screen danced around, singing out a fast paced song. Mitch came up behind her, watching the screens too.

"Bleh, Pop. Girly Pop at that. But the J-Pop part is pretty cool."

"Hey now. . . SaKura*StaR is awesome."

"If you like her so much, why don't you get her new CD that just came out."

"WHAT?" Denise faced Mitch instantly, causing him to take a step back "It's out? Already? WHERE?"

"Uh... it came out Tuesday."

"But I thought it wasn't out til..." she shrugged "No worries~! Sooner the better. Yay!" She half jogged up the aisle, quickly grabbing the new CD off the music counters.

"Well, you haven't had many shifts this week, so I figured you didn't know."

"Ya, taking a relaxing break this week. I've been working too much."

"You mean watching TV too much."

"...Jerk."

"I know." Mitch just grinned. "Also, the new Harvest Moon game you were waiting for came in too this week."

"Oh ya! I'll get that too please." Denise happily clutched the CD in her hands, grinning and humming along to the song that was playing out the TVs.

She met Mitch at the counter and paid for everything. As she turned to leave, she lifted the bag up and lightly smacked Mitch on the head with her purchase, glaring slightly. He just laughed.

"That's for the comments. Be lucky I didn't just haul off and beam you with it."

"But then you wouldn't have me to bug you tomorrow when you work."

"Like I'd miss you. Anyways, bye Mitch~ Have fun."

"See ya. Enjoy your new game and music."

Denise happily strolled out of the front doors of the store into the setting sunlight. She winced slightly as the sun sets facing the main doors and blinds anyone who leaves the store. She went to walk out into the

parking lot, but dodged back quickly almost losing her balance as a black sports car whipped by her. She stumbled to re-catch her balance, staring at the card whip down the parking lot.

"HEY!" she yelled, shaking her fist. "This ain't a speed-way, it's a freakin' parking lot... oh, is that a GT?" she held her hand to her head, squinting at the license plate. "With a NS plate. Damn freakin rich kids. Don't they got like private speedways or something in NS? Friggin boils my blood..." she bent over to grab her parcels but bumped into someone coming out of the store. "Oh, my. Gomen~ I'm sorry."

"It's ok... oh. Denise?" Kent adjusted his glasses. "It is you."

"Kent. Oh hey, fancy meeting you here."

"I thought you were going to shop with Becki after school. You all alone?"

"Bec had to go up west to middle-of-nowhere-land...err, past O'leary. I thought I'd mall browse alone. Ehehe..." she sighed slightly.

"You heading home now? Want a drive?"

"Huh? Uh..." Denise blinked. Kent just adjusted his glasses. "Uh... sure."

"Ok. My cars this way."

"Oh, ok." Denise followed Kent silently across the parking lot. Her eyes widened when they stopped at his car. "This... is yours?" she looked between him and the car she stood next to.

"Well. . . it was from my dad." his cheeks slowly turned a light shade of red.

"Still. Wow." Denise looked at him again. "This is the new Nissan GT-R, yes? I didn't think they were out yet..." She stared at the silver car. It was like new.

"Um..." Kent unlocked the car and got in, Denise scooting in next to him. "My dad... has connections."

"Ooo-kay..." She smiled.

"Hey..." Kent started pulling out of the parking square. "Are you hungry?"

"Wha? Uh."

"Just wondering if you wanted to stop at McDonalds or something on your way home. I mean... that's if you want to..."

"No, it's cool. Let's go."

* * *

Denise munched on her chicken nuggets, staring at Kent, who was doing everything to avoid staring at her. She smiled slightly.

"So, uh..." Kent closed his eyes and faced Denise. "How's school going?"

"It's going good. English is always interesting, sorta. I think I'm getting 70's in that class. Math is math. History is as boring as ever. Like always. Unless it's something not about the wonderful history known as Canada. Why can't we learn about like, Greek History or something? You can only learn about how Canada became so many times before you go nutty." She swigged a long drink from her root beer. "Biology is pretty fun. I like dissecting things. Haha! I think I'm the only one who doesn't go squeamish at a dead pig."

"Why... am I not surprised at that." Kent chuckled. "Wish you were in my class, I can't stand poking at those things."

"Oh? Hehe. Shoulda said that at the start of the year. It's too late now silly. But, I wouldn't want to change any of my classes. I'm enjoying Computers the most." she grinned. "Arts pretty fun too, and Phys Ed with Suki-chan rocks. We so totally own. Oh! Soccer should be starting very soon. I can't wait. I wimped out and didn't do Basketball this year with Suki-chan since I wasn't sure I was cut out for it, but she said she'd tag along on soccer with me. Might even do Track and Field... and I'm just droning on. You can stop me at anytime. Sorry."

"Nono, it's ok."

"Again with the glasses adjust."

"Huh" Kent's hand was paused on the brim of his glasses. "Oh. Heh. Sorry?"

"Hehehe. Neh~ Kent?"

"Hrm?"

"You been keeping up with the news about the recent monster attacks?"

"Ya, why?"

"Dunno. Just wondering if you've heard anything about that mysterious girl that's been shown on the news reports about it."

"Not really. I know she dispatches the monsters. And unless she shows up, the police usually take some sort of damage or casualties without the TSAB mages showing up." Kent popped a few fries in his mouth. "Sorry, I really don't know much else."

"That's ok. I wonder if there is any pictures of her that aren't crappy quality pictures." Denise's ears perked a little. "Ooooo!"

The music playing in the McDonalds restaurant had ended and a radio announcer had come on and was talking about SaKura*StaR. Denise listened as he talked about her upcoming tour which has a concert stop on P.E.I.

"Yay! SaKura*StaR!"

"You really like her, don't you?"

"Mmhm! Got all her CDs and everything. I love her music, even though I don't understand half her songs cause it's fluent Japanese. But! I can guess some of the words!" Denise's smile faded slightly. "Oh... noway. She's going to NS and not coming to Summerside? Man... I guess the Tenjou Stadium is bigger then either the Confederation Theater or the Consolidated Credit Union Place. Still." She pouted. "I wanted to go. But frig trying to get in if it's in NS."

Kent just looked at Denise, who was staring downwards at her food.

"...Mmm, oh well. I'll just have to buy the DVD when it comes out." She lifted her head and smiled. "No worries, ya?" She grabbed her tray. "Anyways, I'm done."

"Ok, ..." Kent picked his up and they both walked to the trash, dumped their garbage and left the building. Kent glanced at Denise, adjusted his glasses and blushed slightly. "Hey..."

"Hmm?" Denise looked at him as she got into the car.

"You want to come with me ... to my dad's office? I gotta drop off some paper work to him. It shouldn't take too long."

"Uh..." Denise blinked, slightly confused. "Sure... I guess?"

"Really? Thanks."

Denise stared out the window as they exited the parking lot and headed out to the main highway outside of town. She had no clue where Kent's dad worked. In fact, he had never really told anyone where his dad worked. At all. She just looked around at the fields that rolled by outside the car, wondering what office building was outside the Summerside city limits. Then it dawned on her as the car slowly approached a turn off ramp that lead towards a large object in the distance.

"Wait... Kent, where does your dad work...?"

Kent remained silent as the car rolled under huge, elaborate, arching gates. The "Koudoutai Gates"; the entrance gates in Neo Summerside. Denise just blinked, mouth opened in shock as they rolled along the picture perfect tree-lined streets of Neo Summerside. They cruised up one street and down the next, with no real destination in mind that Denise could see. Her face was plastered to the window, eyes wide, just like a kid.

"Is... this your first time in Neo Summerside?"

"Mmmhmm..." She nodded slightly. "I've never been here before. Ever. Even with it being like, 30mins outside of town."

Kent continued to just travel streets, letting Denise stare at all the shops and businesses... and the people. He smiled as she seen a huge promo banner for the SaKura*StaR, causing her face to brighten up. They pulled up next to a huge, 50 story tall sky-scraper that glowed orange in the setting sun.

"We're here."

"Your dad works here?"

"Ya... I guess I never did tell you guys. Um, my dad is the CEO of a cruise ship company. Actually, sorry. He owns said cruise ship company." Kent chuckled slightly. "Ever hear of Poseidon Cruise Lines?"

"Yes! Aren't they like, one of the top 5 largest cruise lines in the world?"

"Yes."

"...wait, your dad OWNS them?"

"Yes."

"...what the freak you doing in Summerside then... wait..." Denise bit her lip. "I take that back. Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry."

"Heh." Kent took his glasses off, looked at them slightly, then placed them back on. "It's ok. I don't live in NS cause I like Summerside. I like... normal."

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. Don't worry about it."

"I know how you got this car now."

"Heh."

They exited the car and entered into the ground flood lobby of the building. It was grand, having a fountain in the middle of it, hanging chandeliers and lots of benches. There was a smaller room attached to the left and right of the lobby, with more seating areas, and 52ཁ wide screen TVS on the walls with cruise line commercials. Denise's jaw dropped. The secretaries at the desk looked up from their work to greet Kent.

"Oh! Mr. Smith. How are you doing?" The secretaries smiled at him. "You're father is up in his office if you're looking for him. He's waiting on the paper work and reports. But he's in the middle of a meeting with a client, so your friend will have to wait here. I hope that isn't a problem."

"Nono. It's ok." Denise smiled. "I don't mind waiting here."

"You sure Denise?"

"Un." She smiled again as Kent walked towards the elevators.

"Ok, I'll be back in a few."

Denise looked around the room, walking over to the fountain to admire it. The lobby was huge, set in blue and brown tones. There were a few people kicking back in one of the rooms to the side, and a mother with 3 kids waiting near the desk for something. One of the kids tugged lightly on a balloon, but tugged a bit too hard, causing the balloon to tug back as it bounced around on it's string. It slipped out of the kids hand and slowly started sailing upwards in arched room. Within mere seconds, Denise quickly turned around, leaping into the air and snatching the balloon before it sailed any higher.

"Here." She smiled at the little boy who's face lit up when his hands were back on the string of the balloon. "Gotta be a bit more careful, this is a bad room to lose one of those in. It's really tall."

"Hehe, thanks!" The kid grinned from ear to ear, causing Denise to giggle and smile again.

"Thank yo-..." The mother had turned to face Denise but stopped mid-sentence when she seen Denise's uniform. She backs her kids up a bit, putting some distance between them and Denise.

"Uh...huh?" It was at that moment Denise became painfully aware that almost everyone in the lobby, with the exception of the secretaries, were staring at her. "...um..." She sighed. "So I guess since I'm from Summerside, it's not cool now?" she sighed again. "Whatever..." she whirled around to the arm placed on her shoulder. "Oh!"

"Thanks for waiting. Ready to go home now?" Kent had just shown up, finished with his business with his father.

"Please..."

"Oh! Mr. Smith." the mother of the 3 kids greeted him. "How do you do? Is your father well?"

"Huh? Oh, ya. My father is doing fine. He's been working out a bit more, heh." Kent scratched the back of his head.

"Pfft..." Denise scoffed. "It's like I'm not even here..." she muttered under her breath.

"You say something Denise?"

"Huh? Oh. No. I'm fine. Hehe."

The 2 turned to leave, Denise glancing behind herself at the young boy with the balloon. He smiled and mouthed the words "Thank you" again. She gave a small wave to him and left the building with Kent, getting back into the car. She wasn't even seated for 10seconds before an envelope was thrust in front of her.

"Eh...? What's this?" She looked at Kent.

"Just... open it." his face flushed red.

"Uh..." Denise carefully ripped the envelope open, slightly confused. Her eyes opened wide, jaw dropping and mouthing silent words of shock. "...Kent... oh my god... Kent...! These are ..."

"Concert Tickets."

"To the SaKura*StaR concert... oh...my... god..."

"Heh."

"OH MY GOD, KENT!" she screamed, causing people on the side walk to stare in the direction of the car. She pulled out 6 pink tickets, each with elaborate writing of SaKura*StaR on them. One of the sides of the ticket was cut in the shape of a sakura blossom.

"Well, seeing as my dad owns Poseidon Cruise Lines... it was... quite eas-" Kent's face went bright red. Denise had undone her seatbelt and was now glomping Kent in a huge hug of many thanks. He adjusted his glasses, trying to not disturb the girl who was still repeating "oh my god." every few seconds from the shock of the present.

"Oh! Gomen~" Denise pulled herself away a few minutes later. "I'm just... really really excited. I can't believe I have tickets to her show. I'm speechless."

"That's a first."

"Hey..."

"Heh. Anyway, ... um, let's get you home?"

"Oh, ok. I sorta didn't tell anyone where I was going... ooops." she scratched the side of her face, sweat-dropping. "Hope nobody worried." she grinned slightly.

30 minutes later, Denise was standing on her doorstep, waving good-bye to Kent who had his hand stuck out the window as her drove away from her house. She still couldn't believe in her hand that she had SaKura*StaR concert tickets. But a quick look at the time on her cell-phone snapped her back to reality.

"It's 10pm already? I still have to do my homework and shower!" she whined, running into the house.


	4. Ch 3 Forthcoming

**Chapter 3 ~ Forthcoming**

"Denise, heads up!"

"Huh...? Ahh... owwie..."

"Denise?"

Suki ran over to Denise as she was picking herself up off the gym floor. She sighed and stared at the girl who was rubbing her butt from her fall.

"Gomen~ I wasn't paying attention."

"Are you feeling ok? You've been out of it since you first got to school today? Did something happen yesterday?"

"Lack of sleep."

"Say... what?"

"Nandemonai... nandemonai..." Denise muttered, glancing over at the bleachers.

"Well, whatever. Anyways, pick your game up, ok? I'll force an energy drink into you if I have to."

"Ehhh? No. Nonono." Denise brought her arms up in a cross shape over her chest. "Only fizzy drinks I drink are Pepsi and Barqs. Take your devil energy drinks and keep them away from me."

"Well, if you got the energy to protest that much, use it to score some baskets." Suki laughed.

"You girls done yet?"

"Hai, Mrs. Thompson."

They scrambled back to the court to resume the 5 on 5 basketball match. The girls gym class had the court for most of the day today while the guys got to relax a bit on the bleachers. Only a few of the guys were outside running laps around the track as the weather wasn't the prettiest.

Denise glanced at Suki, nodding, and catching a nod back at her. She wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Let's do this!"

* * *

"Yahoo!" Suki high-fived Denise. Or tried to. The brunette sprawled out on the bleaches, face down and dead to the world. "...or not? What, your "Energy Drinks are Evil" energy run out or something?" She poked Denise, who just responded back with a grunt. "Oh-kay."

Denise rolled over onto her back and held her hand up over her eyes, blocking out the bright gym lights. She had been up most of the night trying to finish her homework in between her squeals of joy over the SaKura*StaR tickets. She didn't know when she had gone to bed, but whenever it was it was wearing her out only 2 classes into the day. She sighed and rolled to her side to watch the basketball match going on. She was barely able to make out the ball getting passed back and forth.

"Suki?"

"Yes?"

"We won, right?"

"Oh wow, are you that out of it? Maybe you should hit up the nurses office during your free period to nap or something."

"Mmm... I think I just need some pepsi."

"And yes, we won." Suki looked at Denise with a concerned look. "You know, if you need help with your homework or something, I'm sure someone will help you."

"Heh, makes me a bit nervous hearing that from the sports-girl."

Mrs. Thompson blew her whistle, signaling the end of the current match. Denise slowly sat up, placing a hand on her head.

"That's it for today girls, you can go and shower up now so you don't miss too much of your lunch. Class dismissed." she waved the kids towards the exit, watching them shuffle out of the gym and across the hallway to the locker rooms.

"Hey Denise." Suki reached into her locker, grabbing a towel and her uniform. "The entire time you were on the court, Kent was watching you."

"Huh?" Denise blushed slightly, dropping her uniform on the floor. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, his eyes were on you the entire time you were out there. Even when you came back to the bleachers, only his stare changed a bit, I think... hehe." Suki just laughed. "I don't know, I'm not a pro at this. I'm just more awake then you are." She slapped Denise on the shoulder, causing her to re-drop her uniform again. "Meet you back here in 10?"

"Uun... ya."

* * *

"$4 please."

The school cafeteria was rather packed today. The rain had picked up worse outside, causing most kids to seek shelter indoors or dash to their cars for a lunch at the regular fast-food joint. Denise's hands flashed across the registers keypad as she processed peoples lunch orders for them. She had picked up the part-time job when she had seen it on the bulletin boards at the start of the year. It paid rather well for the little amount of work she did. 30mins of her time titled her to either a free lunch or $5. All she had to was ring kids lunches in. Which, after the first 2 weeks became second nature to her.

"Hrm...? Pizza and a milk? $2.75. Thanks" she sipped the pepsi she had placed on the window sill next to her. "$5 please. $4.50... oh, Kent?"

"I don't even get a 'Hi'?" Kent handed her a $5 bill.

"I wasn't really expecting you to go through my cash. I don't normally see you eating cafeteria food." She handed him back his change.

"First time for everything? Heh..." he adjusted his glasses with his free hand, getting a giggle out of Denise. "Did you tell them yet about the tickets?"

"Oh. No. I haven't really had much of a chance. I've been really tired."

"Did I keep you out too late... oh..." Kent turned around slightly at the angry students in the line-up.

"You're holding up the line." "Hurry up!" "Stop chit-chatting with the cashier already and ask for her number or something."

"Errr..." Kent turned a deep red. "I'll see you after you're done." he walked past Denise towards the group of friends across the cafeteria, missing Denise's face slowly turning red.

"Um... Oh. Uh, $3 please. Thanks."

"Denise, you can finish up and get your lunch if you want. I can take care of the rest of the students." Linda called over from the other cash. "Go enjoy your lunch, and get some sugar into that system of yours. You seem more out of it then normal today."

Denise's eye twitched slightly. "_Does everyone think I'm out of it today or something?_" she thought to herself, closing down her cash. "Thank you Linda~" She bowed slightly, snatched up her backpack and joined the line of kids at the food counter.

Several minutes later, she plopped down at the table with a dish of popcorn chicken and onion rings. She smiled happily, tossing a piece of chicken into her mouth and swigging some pepsi.

"You seem a bit better now." Suki reached over, snatching an onion ring. "Going to go lay down for your free period?"

"No. I was thinking of doing some laps around the gym or something. If I lay down, I don't think I'll wake back up."

The group ate in silence for a bit, all eyes on Denise as she dozed in and out crunching on her onion rings. Within a few seconds, she had downed her bottle of pepsi, and got up to grab another one from the machines across the way. Sitting back down, she looked at everyone, aware that they were all still staring at her.

"...What? Do I have onion stuck to my face or something?"

"If you did we wouldn't tell you, funner to watch you humiliate yourself~" Becki chimed.

"Thanks. I'll remember that." Denise replied, chucking a popcorn chicken at her. "Anyways, um. Guys, hope you have Saturday off."

"Hrm?"

"What's Saturday?"

"Where are you dragging us?"

"Well, I ... I got some tickets to see a certain show on Saturday night, from someone." Denise glanced at Kent, who blushed. "And was hoping you'd all come? So please?" Denise pulled the tickets out of her backpack. "I have enough for everyone."

"Wait, are those?"

"Oh my gosh, SaKura*StaR tickets?" Becki leaned in to get a better look. "They are. Oh wow."

"Ya, um. I have 6 of them, so we can all go, if you want. It'd be better if everyone came." Denise smiled.

Some of the students from the surrounding tables had turned their attention to the commotion coming from Denise's table. A few of them started whispering amongst themselves at the sight of the tickets in Denise's hand. Even among the richer kids of TOSH, most students would have a hard time coming across tickets to the concert in NS. A cloud of jealous thoughts swarmed around the corner of the cafeteria where the group sat.

"Errr... somehow, I feel like my life is being threatened in the minds of a lot of people..." Denise gulped, stuffing the tickets back into her bag. "Anyways, you'll come, ne?"

"Hrmm, I dunno. I mean, why would I want to." Becki grinned. "Of course I'll go stupid, why would I say 'No'?"

"I'll go, I have Saturday off. No practice this weekend. I still plan on doing some exercises at home though. But ya, count me in."

Denise, Suki and Becki stared at Brent and Kent. The guys just looked at each other and shrugged.

"Do we have a choice to say no?" Brent laughed. "Ya, I'll go, I can probably drive us there."

"Umm... you already know my answer." Kent adjusted his glasses.

"Ya, d'uh. Hehe." Denise smiled at her friends. "Thanks guys. This should be really..." She was cut off by the warning bell signaling the end of lunch. "Already over." jamming the rest of her popcorn chicken into her mouth, she grabbed her backpack. "I gotta go hit up my locker, have fun guys."

The group watched her wander off down the hallway, still half-asleep. Becki gave Suki a worried look, who returned it.

"You think she's ok?"

"Well... uh, I did have her out late... last night." Kent stuttered. "She came with me to see... my dad. So she wasn't home... til a little after 10PM. She probably had homework... maybe too excited cause of the tickets..."

"You gave her the tickets?" Becki blinked.

"Yes."

"Oh wow. Where in the world did you get those..."

The group chit-chatted for a few more minutes before they hurried off in different directions to their afternoon classes.

* * *

Denise walked out of the gyms locker rooms for the second time that day, tying her still damp hair up in it's usual ponytail and proceeded towards her final class that day. The jog around the gym didn't fully wake her up, quite the opposite, but she was feeling a bit better. She grabbed a pepsi from the vending machines as she passed through the cafeteria. Sipping the pop, she trotted upstairs and to the 400's section, dodging students as she went. Something wasn't sitting right with her. And it wasn't the staying up late. This tiredness wasn't normal. After a certain lack of sleep she usually just went into some sugar-high mode and had endless energy. But that wasn't happening today. Collapsing into her seat, she smiled at Kent who tossed her a worried look.

"More pepsi?" He scratched his head. "I have to disagree with how much of that stuff you drink."

"Sorry. I need sugar."

"Is that what it really is?" Kent's question threw her off guard. "This doesn't seem like your normal 'Out-Of-It, Need Sleep' we usually see once a week. Are you sure you're ok? Is something bothering you?"

Denise set the pop down on her desk, staring past Kent and out the window. Truth be told, something was bothering her. It had started last night. Something, a sinking feeling in her gut. It had been happening a lot recently, where feelings of dread just sort of invaded her happy thoughts, putting her in a uncomfortable mood. The feelings from last night had dragged on through the day, but started picking up again after lunch. Like something was coming. Something was going to happen, but she wasn't sure quite what. She sighed and sipped her pepsi again. This wasn't like her. At all. She shook her head, trying to shake the annoying thoughts when her eyes shot open wide. Something had just happened. Or, she thought something had just happened. She looked around the classroom as students took their seats. Nothing in here was out of place. And nothing was going on in the school. But something was telling her something terrible was happening. Something related to her mood. Kent's hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts, her wide eyes coming to a rest on Kent's worried face.

"...Denise?"

"Betsuni..." She downed her pepsi and placed the bottle in her desk. Whatever it was that was bothering her wasn't going to be solved by her just sitting there at her desk sulking over the annoying thoughts. She flipped open her math book as the teacher came into class, prepared to just ignore everything and focus on her math.


	5. Ch 4 Off Guard

**Chapter 4 ~ Off Guard ~**

"Mou...dphlighf mafftam. Thiff iffint normphal."

"«_My Lady, my translation program is unable to distinguish what you are trying to saying._»_" _Tsumetai chimed from her sheath on Myst's back.

"Iff said..." Myst swallowed the sandwich she had crammed into her mouth. "Daylight attacks. This isn't normal."

"«_Understood. My apologies. I was worried when my language filters were unable to detect what dialect you were speaking. I had thought you had forgotten how to speak, my lady._»"

"...Maintenance after this, Tsumetai."

"«_Good to see my lady's humor is normal. My apologies._»"

Myst continued to dash across the rooftops of Neo Summerside heading towards the outer walls to the city. Tsumetai's WAS had alerted her to another monster appearing, but Myst had ignored it. Monsters have never appeared during the day. Always somewhere between dusk and dawn. Forcing Tsumetai to do another scan, she still wasn't convinced as she rushed towards the location. She jumped downwards, landing on another rooftop. It didn't seem right.

"Tsumetai..."

"«_Yes, my lady?_»"

"WAS on that location."

"«_As requested_. _Wide Area Search._»"

Myst stopped at the outer walls to Neo Summerside, staring up.

"Mist Step." within mere seconds, Myst was on-top of the wall and down on the other side. She continued to run towards the location, waiting on Tsumetai to tell her it was a false reading and there was no monster. Or at least that's what she wished. She had a sinking feeling there was monster. They were starting to get common. Too common.

"«_WAS successful, my lady. I have re-confirmed the existence of a monster at the location we are heading to. Shall I re-scan again?_»"

"No." Myst scoffed. Just what was going on.

A strong wind swept across the field, causing her scarf to whip around behind her. The highway leading into the city was a short distance away. She mentally calculated how long it would be before police or the TSAB ground mages would arrive. Or in worst cases, curious civilians.

"Tsumetai."

"«_Already finished, my lady._»" the device responded before Myst could request anything. "«_I have an active search up and will alert you to any presences in the area, my lady.» _Tsumetai pulsed. "«_Visual confirmation on the monster, confirmed._»

Myst glanced around, seeing the thing in the distance. It resembled something like a giant mutated dog, with 2 heads. Various bones and horns jutted out of every possible surface, and it carried an aura of death with it from what she could see from a distance.

"1 hit kill." Myst said, unsheathing Tsumetai.

"«_Understood. Frozen Bindings._»"

The monster in the distance let out a roar as the moisture in the are condensed around it, forming rings of ice around its' legs. Its' roar was soon muffled as sparkles circled around it's mouth, replaced by another frozen ring of ice.

"Mist Step." Myst appeared above the monster. "Frost Bite, Break." again, 4 pillars shot forth, impaling the monster and shattering into a million pieces. Not even a minute had gone by before a dark red gem landed with a soft thud on the ground. Myst landed, snatching up the gem quickly and holding it to Tsumetai. "Still not what we're looking for..."

"«_Gem received. Collection complete. Good-d... Alert, INCOMING my lady. Safeguard!_»"Tsumetai threw up a shield as Myst spun around quickly to see a low powered buster attack smash into it.

"Tsumetai, you were suppose to be scanning the area." She flipped backwards a few times before she stopped. She was surrounded by several TSAB ground mages. But, she didn't recognize the division or the barrier jackets they wore. She cursed as 8 staves were pointed at her. "That was faster then normal, you guys training?"

The guards didn't flinch at the comment. 2 of them moved aside as their commander stepped into the circle. Myst's eyes fell on him. He seemed rather young to Myst, probably not much older then her. He had short, red hair that was spiked towards the front. He wore an almost all black barrier jacket that Myst couldn't place the division it belonged to, though it seemed to resemble one from the Navy Forces. Several pins adorned his chest, making her a little weary.

"I finally have the pleasure of seeing you in action." the commander said, stretching his arms out in a welcoming motion. "Lt. Colonel Malcolm Wright of the TSAB Ground Forces 42nd Battalion." He smiled slightly. "We were finally able to meet. You've been eluding us for quite a while." he took another step forward, causing Myst to take a step backwards.

"TSAB sends out one of it's Lt. Colonels' in person to capture me? I'm surprised." Myst said dryly.

"Well, you've managed to elude us for a while. Always seeming to be ahead of our ground teams by quite a bit. Most impressive." he clapped his hands. "But, show time is over. Those gems you've been collecting, I'll have to ask you to hand them over."

"...and if I don't?"

"Well, you are currently a rogue mage wanted by the TSAB. If you hand them over, I could talk with my superiors and possibly get them to over-look this incident. Maybe even hire you on as a contract mage..."

Myst smirked, suppressing the urge to laugh. Malcolm's smile faded a bit.

"Being a Contract Mage for the TSAB doesn't interest me in the least bit." She looked at the guards around her, judging them. "These gems have me interested. I don't think I'll be handing them over to the Bureau anytime soon."

Malcolm moved to the left a bit, eyes still on Myst, deep in thought. She wasn't easily stared down, keeping her expression calm. It bugged him. She was surrounded, outnumbered, outgunned. But she still refused to join them. His furled his eyebrows as he stared at her.

"You don't really have the option of refusing. I'm going to offer you one more time to hand over the Linker Gems. I'm hoping you'll comply. Beating up a lady wasn't on my scheduled plans for today."

"Linker Gems? Is that what they're called?" Myst cocked an eyebrow at Malcolm, causing his face to flush. "So I now have a name to research with. My thanks."

"..." Malcolm clenched his fists, then pointed at her. "Capture her."

"Yes, sir!" The guards responded, readying their devices. 2 of the guards proceeded to summon a barrier around the area.

"Hmph, too slow."

"«_Mist Step._»"

Myst tried to put as much distance between herself and the ground mages. Being locked in their barrier wouldn't be a good thing, and not knowing Malcolm's rank put her at an obvious disadvantage. She dashed a few more times using Mist Step, approaching the wall to Neo Summerside as fast as she could.

"«_Safeguard__!_»"

Low-level Buster attacks flew past her as she braced herself to Mist Step up the wall. They wouldn't follow her into the city. She had mis-calculated this hunt. The Bureau showing up as soon as they did worried her, and Tsumetai not noticing until the last moment puzzled her also.

"«_My Lady__!_»"

Myst turned around at Tsumetai's cry, eyes widening at the attack flying at her. Without time to dodge, she dug in to take the direct hit.

"Round Shield!" The attack hit her, engulfing her in a blaze of fire. "Ungh... what is this?"

Malcolm was a distance away from Myst, with a weird shaped spear in his hands. He twirled it around before smashing the tip into a magic circle.

"Inferno Discharge!" another blast shot forward at Myst, followed by a volley of busters from the soldiers.

"Round Shield." Myst braced herself again as she was thrown back into the city wall from the attack. She pulled herself out of the hole, shaking her head slightly. Raising Tsumetai up, she thrust out her left hand to the side of her. "(What is up with this ground force...?)" Her light blue magic circle appeared on the ground as she readied her attack. "Freeze Lance..." 4 spear shaped objects formed around her, increasing in size. "...Go!" they shot forward at Malcolm and the guards. She hit 3 of the guards but Malcolm blocked the one directed at him with ease. She readied another volley when the city's defense alarms went off suddenly. "About time... Freeze Lance!" She fired another wave at the group before Mist Stepping up the wall quickly and disappearing inside the city.

"Damnit... Fall Back!" Malcolm waved his guards back as the city's sirens wailed.

Myst ran across the rooftops of the city again, lost in thought. Who was Lt. Colonel Malcolm, and what were these Linker Gems. She stopped, staring down at the city streets. Sheathing Tsumetai, she grabbed her side where a slight blood started to peak through her barrier jacket.

"Whoever he is, he's good. Even for blocking that direct hit, he still managed to hit me through my jacket. I wonder... Tsumetai, start running checks on Linker Gems, the 42nd Battalion and Lt. Colonel Malcolm Wright."

"«_Understood. I've done a scan of your barrier jacket. No life threatening injuries found, my lady._»"

"That's good. Tsumetai?"

"«_Yes, my lady?_»"

"System Scan yourself also. Find out why you were unable to detect their approach. We'll do maintenance on you tomorrow with Raito." Myst jumped off the building to the alley below, disabling her barrier jacket before hitting the ground.

"«_Understood, my lady. Good-day, Myst_!»" Tsumetai glowed and transformed into it's kunai necklace form. Myst tied it around her neck and left the alley, heading up the crowded sidewalk, ignoring the police cars that wailed past her on the way to the battle scene she just came from.


	6. Ch 5 The Invitation

**Chapter 5 ~ The Invitation ~**

Kent waited outside the school, leaning against his car in the lane the pulls up to the school. His gaze fell on Denise and Suki as the 2 girls walked out of the school. He got up and waved them over to his car.

"Hey, Denise. It's Kent." She nudged her friend and motioned towards Kent. "And wow, what a nice car."

"Hey girls. Did... you guys want to hang out at the mall today?" He adjusted his glasses slightly, his gaze falling on Denise. "Uh..."

"She seems to be more awake now." Suki nudged Denise's shoulder, causing the girl to grin. "See? I wonder if she hit the rebound...?"

Denise rocked back and forth on her feet, smiling happily to herself.

"...That's good."

"I'm so glad I'm use to her weird behavior by now." Suki looked at Denise. "Anyways, I don't have practice today, so let's go get this girl something to wear. I have a feeling she'll start showing up in that Zellers Uniform of hers that she seems to wear more then anything."

"Just cause I live in it 24/7 while not in school does not mean I'll start wearing it when we hang out..."

"You already do half the time."

"...damn you." Denise pumped her fist into the air. "To the mall! I need clothes to silence Suki."

Suki slapped her forehead before opening the door to Kent's car and crawling in back, followed by Denise crawling into the front. As the group left the parking lot, they got a lot of looks from the students still exiting the school.

"Ne, Kent. Has it always been like this for you?" Denise glanced at Kent.

"You mean with my dad being rich and everything? Not really. Most kids haven't really noticed until the last few years when I've been appearing along with my dad on broadcasts of news conferences and meetings." He turned onto Granville Street.

"Oh, I see. Um..." Denise smiled. "Rich and Famous or not, you're still Kent to me." Kent's cheeks flushed red as Denise turned her attention to Suki in the back seat. "I already picked out a few things the other day when I was shopping. Just some cargos and a tank top... and my newest favoritest CD." she grinned.

"So start down by Lawtons' and head up the mall hitting up all the stores then?" Suki asked from the back seat.

"Sure."

"Sounds like a plan"

* * *

"Hey, guys, this look ok?" Denise opened the door to the change room and stepped out in a faded pair of jeans and a tight, grey hooded sweater.

"Better then the last one you came out in." Suki rummaged through a rack of tops, pulling the occasional one at and holding it up towards Denise.

"Ok, I'll get this, lemme try that on real quick. I still have something else in here." she shut the door again, leaving Suki and Kent alone again.

"Hmmm..." Suki walked to a different rack and pulled out a tank top, staring at it before adding it to the other 2 articles of clothing on her arm.

"I don't understand how girls need so many pieces of clothing. That and shoes..."

"Don't forget, some of use have a massive lingerie collection too."

Kent's face flushed as he adjusted his glasses. At that moment Denise came out again, twirling in a short skirt and a strawberry pink hooded t-shirt. She stopped when she seen the red darken on Kent's face.

"Uh, did I miss something?"

"Just telling Kent about your lingerie fetish." Suki said calmly, heading towards the cash.

"Wait, WHAT?" Denise blushed also, looking between Kent and Suki. Kent had taken an interest at that moment in his shoes. "I don't have a lingerie fetish... Suki!" Denise hurried into the changing room, quickly undressing and coming back out in her uniform. Several people were staring at her by now. "I'm so hurting you Suki."

Kent got up from the bench he was sitting on, following Denise up to the cash where Suki had just grabbed her bag. She faced them, sticking her tongue out.

"Heh, shoulda seen your face. If only I had my cellphone out."

"You're so mean to me."

"Nah, I know you'll just get me back. How you feeling by the way? You seem to be in a better mood now."

"Unn... I don't know why, but at the end of Math Class, I felt better for some reason..." She paused, not sure if she should mention what she was feeling. "I guess I hit my rebound, like you said." She smiled.

"Where next?" Suki turned towards the exit, staring out into the plaza area of the mall.

Denise picked up her bag, walking towards the exit. Her eyes lit up as she pointed at something across the room.

"That!"

"Hmm?" Suki stopped beside her, following the direction of her friends finger. "Oh, haha. You sure?"

"Yes." Denise jogged across the way with Suki. Kent just looked in the direction the 2 girls were heading, slightly confused. Til he seen the cart.

"Heh..." he shrugged, following the 2 girl to the Ice Cream stand they had stopped at.

* * *

"Mmmm, Cookie Dough Ice-cream..."

Kent looked up from his Hot-Fudge Sundae at Denise, puzzled. "Uh... aren't you lactose intolerant?"

"Ice-cream is too good to care about stomach aches" Denise took another lick, grabbing some cookie dough and dragging it into her mouth.

"..." Kent just blinked while Suki laughed.

"Leave her be, she'll be ok with just ice-cream. Although, if she goes for a second round, she'll be feeling sorry later." Suki grinned from behind her Moose Tracks cone.

"Shush you two, ruining the moment of me enjoying ice cream."

Kent just shook his head as Denise continued to enjoy her Achilles Heel. Going back to his own melting sundae, his attention suddenly turned to a girl that was leaning aginst the wall next to the Peoples Jewelers store. She was staring at the group through the crowded area. He nudged Denise in the arm with his elbow, causing Suki to also look up to.

"Is something wrong?" Denise asked. "I'm not done my ice cream yet."

"Do you... know that girl? She seems to be watching us..." Kent motioned slightly at the girl.

"Oh! It's her again. I seen her when I was here yesterday." Denise stopped for a second, thinking something through.

Suki and Kent stared at Denise, waiting to see smoke come out her ears. They weren't expecting her to stand up and start walking towards the girl that was watching them though.

"Uh, Denise?" Suki got up, going to reach for Denise's arm. Denise shrugged the grab off, jogging across the plaza.

The girl stopped leaning against the wall, straightening up slightly. She wiped some locks of hair out of her eyes as Denise stopped in front of her.

"Can I help you?" she asked rather dryly, like she was being bothered.

"I seen you here yesterday." Denise smiled slightly.

"What about it?"

"Uh..." Denise gulped, rethinking her plan. "Well, um..."

"If you have nothing else to say, then please leave..."

"Do you like coming here? I think I heard someone say they see you here almost everyday." Denise ruffled around in the pocket in her skirt, pulling out a pink piece of paper. She passed it to the girl.

"Denise?"

"Hey..."

Suki and Kent came up behind her, questioning what their crazy friend was doing.

"Did you want to come with us to the SakuraStar concert?" Denise smiled slightly, looking towards the ground as the girl took the ticket. "I mean, I know you don't know any of us... but..."

"Sure."

"...and I'm probably sure you could... wait?" she lifted her head.

"Sure, I'll go." The girl took the ticket out of Denise's hand and tucked it into her pleated skirt. "You're weird. Never been randomly invited to a SakuraStar concert from someone I've only just seen yesterday."

The group stood in silence for a second, Kent and Suki trying to understand what just happened. They looked between Denise and the girl. A few more seconds of silence went by before Suki spoke up.

"Um, I must be out of the loop or something, but, Denise, who is this?"

"Someone I just barely met yesterday." Denise blushed slightly, scratching her cheek. "Actually, I don't know her name. I just figured she looked lonely and bored."

The girl pushed her bangs out of her eyes as Suki and Kent stared at her again, not sure of what to say towards Denise's new level of conjuring awkward situations.

"Anyways... On with the clothes shopping? I still don't have enough yet." Denise smiled, grabbing Suki's hand and pulling the stunned girl across the plaza and towards the other end of the mall. "Also, I need to check my schedule for next week. No clue when I work, heh..." Kent looked at the girl before following after Denise and Suki. A moment later, the green haired girl followed, a smile forming on her face.

After hitting up Lazer Clothing and the Ladies clothing section of Zellers, the group was now wandering around the crowded aisles in Zellers, not sure where they were going or where they wanted to go. Denise continued to drag the group, ducking down aisles every few seconds. After emerging out of the Bed and Bath pillow aisle, Denise turned slightly to Suki.

"Walking around here on my day off scares me. They could be around the corner somewhere, ready to yell at me for shopping or something." Denise looked back and forth up the main aisle as the group cut through the housewares department. She gripped her stomach suddenly at the low rumble it gave off.

"I think you on an empty stomach scares me more. You're already hungry again?" Suki laughed. "Or maybe you're getting your karma from the ice cream."

"I'm sorry? I sorta skimped on lunch today."

"Well, you did throw quite a few popcorn chicken balls at Brent..." Kent cut in.

"I blame the 6 bottles of Pepsi she consumed today."

"It wasn't 6, it was... uh..."

"Mmmhmm." Suki just closed her eyes and nodded. "How's this sound, we can all head back to my place and I'll cook us dinner."

"Really?" Denise's eyes lit up as she clasped her hands in front of herself.

"Yup. Just cause you're feeling better though. You seemed way too down earlier." Suki turned to the girl who was still tagging along with them. "You can come too, if you want."

Caught slightly off guard, the girl paused for a second.

"Thank... you."

"No worries. If Denise trusts you, then I guess there shouldn't be anything to worry about." Suki grinned at the girl. "Let's head up to Sobey's and pick up some food, then head back to my house."

Shuffling their bags of clothing between their arms, Denise and Suki proceeded back towards the exit in the mall, chatting about what Suki was going to cook. Exiting Zellers, they proceeded up the long walk to the other end of the mall where the supermarket, Sobeys, was. Passing by the drug store, the girl following them stopped.

"I will catch up with you all." she started to pull something out of her skirt.

"Ok, we'll just be in here buying ingredients for Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo." Suki pointed up a bit farther towards the entrance to Sobeys. "If you don't see us around the check-outs, wait there a bit. Unless you want to come find us by the deli section."

The group continued into Sobey's to round up the ingredients for their dinner, leaving the girl behind.

"Suki-chan, lemme help you", Denise pouted from the kitchen table in Suki's home.

"You are NOT touching my parents stove. I prefer to have our kitchen stay in one piece."

"Hey now, I only burn every couple of meals I make! I'm getting better, I swear."

"I think Kent and our guest want something edible this time. Shush up and stay there." Suki laughed as she checked the noodles she was boiling. The chicken sat on the counter, already cooked, along with the mushrooms and the sauce. All the was left was the noodles. Denise continued to pout from the table.

"... hmf, I'm still getting better."

"It's fine, we'll practice cooking something next week if you'd like. Something nobody else has to worry about eating." Several minutes later, Suki started passing out plates with warm Chicken Fettucine Alfredo to the guests around the table.

"Soooo..." Denise looked at the girl, her was eating her plate of food with more manners then Suki and herself could be bothered to muster. "So, you're from Tenjoukai, right? That famous private academy in Neo Summerside?"

"Yes, I am."

"What brings you to Summerside everyday? Or at least the last few days..."

"I don't think that's any of your business." The girl replied, taking a bite of chicken.

"Oh, sorry."

The girl looked up slightly to see the sad look on Denise's face from her response. She silently sighed and placed her fork down for a second.

"I'm doing a research project on the lives of people who live here and how the differ from the people living in Neo Summerside. It's a class project."

"Oh. Sounds interesting." Denise smiled.

The group ate in silence for a bit before it was broken again with another question.

"What have you learned so far?" Kent looked over at the girl.

"Summersiders seem to live a life that's a bit more carefree then ours. I believe it has to do with the lack of money and attractions located within the city." the girl took a sip of her water and placed her fork and knife on her empty plate.

"Ya... our lack of money. Hard to compare to a city that only got built from the pockets of various million and billionaires." Suki got up from her chair and proceeded to gather the dirty dishes. "Easier to enjoy life when you have less things to enjoy, haha. Anyways, I have cheesecake if you want some, unless you have to go..." Suki commented as the girl got up from her chair.

"No, it's ok. I have to head home now. Thanks for the meal." she slipped her shoes on and opened the door.

"Oh, okies. Well, it was nice talking to you..."

"Yurai." the girl interjected, cutting Denise off.

"Huh?"

"My name's Yurai Osakana. It was a pleasure."

"Oh! My name's Denise, and this is Suki and Kent. Here!" Denise threw a crumpled napkin at the girl.

"Huh?" The girl turned slightly, catching it and unfolding it to reveal a phone number.

"My cell, incase you want to hang out again."

"Thanks. Take care."

There was silence again in the room as the door shut behind Yurai. Suki set the cheesecake down infront of Denise and Kent, then playfully jabbed Denise in the arm.

"You, girl, are waay too weird. And friendly. Way too friendly for your own good."

"Heh, sorry Suki-chan." Denise grinned, digging in.

"Perfect Dark after this?" Kent grinned at the girls.

"Damn straight!" the replied in unison.

* * *

Denise rolled over slowly, moaning as she blindly patted around on her bed for her cell phone that was going nuts. Slowly opening one eye, she pulled the phone to her face, squinting at the time it was displaying.

"3am... what... the..." she rubbed her other eye with her free hand. "Who in the world..." she flipped the cellphone open and brought it to her ear, half expecting some retarded telemarketer to be on the other end trying to hock her the lasted All-Purpose Rug Cleaner or something.

She was wrong.

"You should stop." a low voice scratched across the phone.

"Huh... Hello?"

"You should stop." the voice repeated.

"Stop,... stop what?"

"You should stop this current path you're on..."

"Um... Thanks for the 3am prank call?"

The phone went dead on the other end, leaving Denise staring at the blinking "Phone Call Ended" on her cell. She proceeded to lay there, her mind going over the weird call she just received.

"Stop... stop what? What am I doing...?"


End file.
